Also known as: secretes · secreted · secreting · conceal · hide
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To conceal or secretly transfer property or other material having potential evidentiary value. The conduct hinders or prevents officials or creditors from locating the item.
Sylvia Santos faced a subpoena for business records in pending litigation. Her counsel advised her to move the documents to a storage unit under a relative's name and delete digital copies from company servers. The lawyer's assistance enabled Santos to secrete the materials beyond the opposing party's reach.
Simon Stern was stopped after officers developed probable cause that his car contained stolen electronics. Officers opened the trunk and a locked suitcase inside it. The suitcase had been used to secrete the items from view during transport.
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Seth Shapiro learned nonpublic details about an upcoming column and passed them to a broker before publication. He attempted to secrete the source of the tip by routing communications through an intermediary account. The scheme allowed the broker to trade ahead of market reaction.
Selena Singh operated a website that posted material later challenged as indecent. To avoid detection she secreted portions of the content behind password-protected directories. Regulators later discovered the hidden files during an investigation.
Samuel Soto received a subpoena for documents related to an independent counsel investigation. He directed staff to secrete the files in an off-site warehouse under a false label. The effort delayed production until a court order compelled disclosure.
Sofia Stern managed student activity funds at a public university. She secreted a portion of the budget in a discretionary account to favor certain publications. Discovery of the hidden allocation led to litigation over viewpoint discrimination.
A lawyer violates the rule by counseling or assisting a client to conceal or destroy material with evidentiary value. The prohibition covers both direct obstruction of access and indirect assistance in hiding documents or other items.
Yes. When officers lawfully enter a dwelling in hot pursuit they may search areas where the suspect could hide or reach for weapons. Items found in plain view during that limited sweep may be seized.
An officer may reach directly to a specific spot on the suspect's body when reliable information indicates a weapon is hidden there. The search remains limited to what is necessary to discover the weapon and does not require a full pat-down first.
…called me in to ask me about this and I told you, I don't want to answer any of your questions.' You'd think I had something to hide, and you'd probably be right in thinking that. That's exactly what I'll have to think about you, and so will everybody else. So let's sit here and talk this whole thing over."[^maj-21] Few…